Murder in Coolsville
by DevotedDreamer
Summary: Scooby and the gang investigate the mysterious death of a young high school student in their hometown of Coolsville. Rated T just to be safe. My first FanFic!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is my first fan fiction ever so I hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to review! I appreciate your encouragement as well as your criticism and suggestions. Sadly, I do not own Scooby-Doo. It is copyright of Hanna Barbara and Warner Bros.

Chapter 1:

We find Scooby-Doo and the gang cruising in their ever faithful Mystery Machine heading towards their hometown of Coolsville.

"Jinkies! Who would've guessed little, old Coolsville would be a site of a murder." Velma said.

"I know," Fred agreed. "There hasn't been a murder there in over twenty years."

"Like, we sure picked a baaad time for a homecoming. Whadya say we come back next week."

"Ror Rear." Scooby added.

"Yeah, or year. Whenever that crazy kook's outta town." Shaggy said.

Daphne rolled her eyes, "Oh, cut it out you two. It's been forever since we've solved a mystery in our old town. Who did they say was murdered again?" Daphne asked.

Velma picked up a copy of The Coolsville Chronicle and read aloud, "'Senior Matthew Palmer was found dead in the Jeanette Lloyd Theatre at 3:25 p.m. Thursday, May 14th. Apparently working on the lighting fixtures, he fell from the catwalk to his immediate death. The police have yet to determine if this was an accident or homicide.'"

Shaggy stared at the picture of the young man of about eighteen. He was skinny with brown curly hair, blue eyes , and a bit of a goatee. His smile was so warm, he looked like the kind of person you would like right away.

"Hmmmm…Matt Palmer…yeah, I remember that guy. He was in my gym class my senior year. He was a pretty cool dude. He was the only guy that could run almost as fast as me. And he could eat too." Shaggy chuckled.

"Poor guy," Daphne sighed, "just a few weeks from graduation and he gets killed."

"Yeah, and I don't wanna be next!" Shaggy whined and held his best pal.

"Re Reither," Scooby added.

"Just relax you two. Nothing's going to happen. Besides, coming back to Coolsville means eating at Manny's All-You-Can-Eat buffet." Velma teased them.

Shaggy and Scooby's eyes bulged and mouth's watered, "Step on it Fred! We got a mystery to solve and a meal to eat!"

* * * * * * *

The gang stopped in front of a rather small two story brick building. The sign in front of it read, "Coolsville High."

"Never thought I'd be back here again." Fred remarked as he and the rest of the gang passed through the large glass doors.

"Ahhhhh…this place sure brings back memories," Velma reminisced. "I wonder if the chemistry lab still has my old water purification system I made in the 10th grade."

As they made there way through the foyer they were greeted by a man in his late fifties. He was about 5'7, medium build with graying hair, brown eyes, and wore a grey suit with a white shirt and red tie. Although he was old, he looked fairly strong. Probably kept in good same chasing kids all around the school.

"Hello, my name is Mr. Anderson. I'm the principal here. You must be Mystery Inc. Thank you so much for coming to help on such short notice. I want to make sure we find out what happened to Matt as soon as we can." he extended his hand toward Fred who shook it heartily.

"Happy to help Mr. A. We're just as anxious as you are to find out what really happened to Matt Palmer," Fred said as Mr. Anderson shook hands with the rest of Mystery Inc., even Scooby.

"Are you new?" Daphne asked. "I don't remember you being principal when we went here."

"Yes, Mr. Thake retired to Miami two years ago and I was hired to take his place. I have enjoyed my time here so far. There seems to be a good batch of students here," he paused, "Except Matt's killer of course," he noted solemnly.

"So what exactly are we going to be doing again?" Velma asked. "You were very brief over the phone.

"You four will be working here undercover as new students. I have you signed up for some of the same classes Matt took, as well as some his close friends took so we can monitor them and maybe find out if they had something to do with it," Mr. Anderson informed them.

"Rwhat arout re?" Scooby asked with a sad look on his face. He didn't want to be left out.

"Oh. I have a very important job for you Scooby. You're going be dressed up as a janitor, roaming the halls and let me know if you see anyone doing anything suspicious. Got that?"

Scooby saluted in reply.

"Gotcha…uh…so like does all that include lunch?" Shaggy asked.

"Absolutely. The cafeteria is an excellent place to observe students and listen in on their conversations to see if you can pick up anything on Matt's death. Plus all your meals will be at the expense of the school."

Shaggy and Scoob's eyes lit up and high fived each other, "Well, let's get to work!" Shaggy said.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hope you like the next chapter of this Scooby Doo mystery. Thanks for the awesome reviews!!! I still do not own Scooby Doo.

Chapter 2:

The next day, the gang was ready get to work. There cover was that they were foreign exchange students from Canada here to se what life is like in the US.

Shaggy and Velma were set up to follow the same schedule as Matt did. Since Matt had no known enemies Fred followed his best friend Jake Martin and Daphne followed his girlfriend Ella Bookman.

Shaggy and Velma's first hour of the day was A.P. art which was interesting. The class was taught by Mr. Mertz, a middle aged man who taught the class, but I use the word taught loosely. He spent 5 minutes telling the kids what he wanted them to draw and spent the rest of the period reading "Sport's Illustrated." The room was covered in sports posters and drawing of football stars kids drew which were no doubt the subject of a lot of assignments given to them. Today was actually a free day so they kids could work on anything they wanted or finish up projects.

Shaggy and Velma thought their best bet would be talking to the students before this guy, they knew they wouldn't get much information out of him. They noticed a guy working on some a large mural in the back of the room. He was wearing a plain white T shirt and jeans had short blonde hair and glasses who looked like he'd be a member of the science club before any kind of art class. Velma felt pretty comfortable around him so she decided to ask a few questions.

"You missed a spot," was Velma's lame attempt of an icebreaker. The guy looked up and smiled at her. "Thanks," He said sarcastically, but not unfriendly. "Hey you're new here aren't you?"

"Is it that obvious?" Velma asked with a laugh.

"Nah. It's just a new student is pretty big news, not that not much happens around here…well until recently that is."

"Yeah. I heard about that. Didn't who of the students fall from a catwalk or something?"

"No. He was pushed." he said in a hushed voice. Velma let out a fake gasp.

"I know. I couldn't believe it either. But the school's keeping everything hush. They're telling the kids it's just an accident, but the police are having a police investigate it and I think they're even hiring a team of detectives to look into it and it sounds like the police are suspecting foul play and I'm sure those fancy detectives will say the same thing."

"Wow. So what do you think happened?"

"Eh. What do I know, I'm just your typical science geek," Velma gave him a quick high five, "but I seriously think that what happened to Matt was no accident."

Just then the bell rang and it was time for them to go to their next class. "See you later. Mystery Man said with a wink. Velma blushed slightly then gathered her bag and walked to the hallway where Shaggy was waiting.

"So come up with anything interesting?" she asked.

"Sure did." Shaggy announced and pulled out a drawing of him standing on top of and mountain of his favorite food like chocolate anchovy pizza and peanut butter and salami sandwiches. "It's beautiful. Isn't it?" Shaggy sighed and kissed the picture.

Velma rolled her eyes. "Shaggy, you were supposed to be asking people about Matt's death." she said sternly.

"Sorry Velma. Like you know how I get when I'm hungry." Shaggy said.

"It's ok. We still have six other classes to check out. Fred and Daphne should have a lot of information for us." She added.

* * * * * * *

Fred didn't get a chance to talk to Jake until gym, fourth period. He went the locker room in the basement to change. The room was stuffy and the tile floor was slightly wet from teens taking showers for their after school sports and the room smelled strongly of sweat and Axe. There weren't many kids still changing and Fred was easily able to spot Jake from the picture Mr. Anderson showed him. He was wearing a blue and white Coolsville Softball jersey, his light brown hair was in a mop top style and his brown eyes looked a little distant, starring off into space as he sat on a bench tying his shoes.

"Hey, what's up?" Fred greeted as he walked towards him.

"Hey," Jake said without even looking up.

"I'm Fred...Smith," Fred changed his name quickly afraid Jake might recognize it.

"I'm new around here, transferred here from Canada."

"Well you sure picked a heck of a time to transfer."

"Why?" Fred asked playing dumb.

"Nothing. Just forget about it," he said heading towards the door.

"Why? What happened? I got to know."

"Fine. I guess it's better you hear it from me then the people around hear spewing out crap," he sighed. "A kid here named Matt Palmer fell from the catwalk, I guess when he was working on some lighting equipment or something, and he died….He's also been my best friend since elementary school."

"Wow, that's rough. I'm so sorry."

"Yeah, and the school won't freakin' let it go. They want to investigate it because they think it might be murder, but that's bull. The school just wants some publicity. No one would ever want to do something like that to Matt. He's the nicest guy in the world, got along with everyone the preps, the nerds, the jocks- everyone loved him. He'd be the last person someone would want dead…He was such a cool guy…" Jake was now on the verge of tears.

"Sorry." Jake said rubbing the corners of his eyes, "I've just been holding this in for a while."

Fred patted him on the back to console him a little bit.

There was silence or about another thirty seconds. Then Jake got up, "Well, I gotta go. Mr. Luiz gets mad if we hang out in the locker rooms too long," he said as he turned his back and headed toward the door. Fred stared at the locker, thinking this would probably be a good time to check it out while no one is around. He headed towards it when a voice startled him, "Hey you coming?" Jake asked as he waited in the doorway. He knew he wouldn't get anywhere with Jake watching him like they so he just answered, "Right behind you."

* * * * * * *

The gang met at a lunch table to talk about what they had found. It sounded like they all came up with the same thing. Matt was a friendly, smart kid who loved the arts (pretty much all of his classes were art or theater classes). There wasn't really anyone who disliked him, especially not enough to kill him. Daphne informed the gang that Ella was on a field trip so they would have to wait another day to question her.

"So Scooby, did you find anything interesting?" Daphne asked, but Scooby was too where to be found.

"Hey, Shaggy gone too. Now where do you suppose they went?" Fred wondered.

"Give you one guess," Velma said as she pointed towards the lunch line.

Sure enough, Shaggy and Scooby were in the line with their tray piled up with four of everything on the menu. They marched over to the table past the horrified lunch ladies and sat down.

"This will be a good start," Shaggy said as he wrapped a bib around his neck.

"Reah, a shtart." Scooby added.

"So Scooby, did you find anything interesting?"

"Reah! Reah!," Scooby said excitedly as he pulled out a garbage bag of half eaten sandwiches, pizza crusts, stale French fries, and other cafeteria food rejects. Scooby pulled out a half eaten hot dog and ate it in one bite.

"Ewwwww…" Fred, Daphne, and Velma said simultaneously as Shaggy was trying to get his share of the loot.

* * * * * * *

As the rest of the gang went to their next class, Scooby went on his hallway patrol.. He was sweeping the hall of the administrative offices, humming to himself. When he passed the principal's office, he heard Mr. Anderson talking over the phone with someone. He put his ear to the closed door and listened.

"This stunt has turned out better than I could have the imagined. With the news covering this story, the school board is sending us a colossal amount of money for security cameras, monitors, anything they think we'll need to prevent further "accidents" and we will still have money left over! This is too good to be true."

"Rut Roh! Ri retter rell Raggy,"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I wanted plot out my story a little more so I could have a better of idea of how I want it to go. I also changed the last part of chapter 2. Scooby overhears Mr. Anderson on the phone instead of the whole gang. This is to give Scooby a little more lime light. The good new is I'm almost done with Chapter 4 and it should be up in a few days. Thank you to the wonderful reviewers, I really appreciate it. I do not own Scooby Doo, but if I did that would be so cool.

Chapter 3:

"Sho dah rou guysh fink Mr. Randerson dif it?" Shaggy asked with a mouthful of food. They were at their favorite restaurant in town, Manny's All-You-Can- Eat buffet as Scooby reenacted the conversation between Mr. Anderson and the mystery man on the other end of the phone.

"Jeepers!" Daphne exclaimed. "Mr. Anderson seemed like such a nice guy."

"I'm not so sure. Killing someone just to have more money for the school seems a little over the top," Velma disagreed.

"Well, maybe there's more to it than that," Daphne reasoned.

"Hey, let's not make any accusations until we have hard evidence," Frank reminded them. "People don't call on us to solve cases because we point fingers at the first shady person we see. We need to make sure we've talked to everyone involved, investigated every lead, and have hard evidence before putting someone's future on the line."

Velma nodded, "Precisely. Remember how many cases were committed by people close to the victim."

"I guess you're right, I just can't shake off this bad feeling about him." Daphne moaned.

"I think we all just need some sleep," Fred concluded.

"Right after dessert," Shaggy added, getting in line for dessert with Scooby close behind.

The rest of them groaned. "We'll be here all night," Velma sighed.

Shaggy and Scooby merely chuckled.

* * * * * * *

After Shaggy and Scooby finished their twelfth course, the gang drove back to the garage apartment of the Blake Mansion where they usually stayed when they returned home. Fred threw the keys to the Mystery Machine on the counter of their miniature kitchen.

"Well, I'd say today went well," the rest of the gang nodded in agreement.

"Like, boy am I beat," Shaggy yawned.

"Re roo," Scooby added.

"Don't you think it's odd that Mr. Anderson was so insistent we take on this case? Maybe to throw suspicion off himself?"

"Man, are you still thinking about that? You need to learn to be more laid back. Sometimes breakthroughs come when you least suspect them." Shaggy advised.

"Yeah. I suppose you're right. It's just when I'm on a case I can't stop thinking about it till it's solved." she said with a grin.

"Yeah. Like, I've noticed." Shaggy remarked which made Velma blush slightly.

The gang headed to their respective rooms for some well deserved sleep, except Velma who lay awake trying to put the pieces of the puzzles together. She spent many nights like this- tossing and turning, trying to make sense of things. She just couldn't rest when there was a mystery to solve; another one of her qualities that made her a great sleuth. The last image in her head before drifting off to sleep was the smiling face of Matt Palmer.

* * * * * * *

Daphne couldn't wait to get to the anatomy room so she could question her suspect, she hated everyone talking about theirs when she had no clue what hers was like.

Questioning suspects had always been her favorite part of a mystery.

As soon as she entered the room, she wanted to run back out again because the scent of formaldehyde was so thick, she thought she'd lose the egg white omelet she had for breakfast. _C'mon Daph, you can do this! _she thought to herself taking on more deep breathe before entering the room.

She immediately recognized Ella from her picture. She was sitting at an empty lab table towards the back, reading her anatomy book with great intensity. Her wavy, strawberry blonde hair came just past her shoulders and she would occasionally tuck a strand behind her ear. But what immediately caught Daphne's attention was her cute outfit- a brown halter top and embroidered jeans. They were assigned to be lab partners in anatomy which gave Daphne the perfect opportunity to question her.

"Hi, I'm Vanessa Clarke," she introduced herself with her charming smile. She was also sure to use an alias so she wouldn't be recognized.

The girl looked up from her book and gave Daphne and equally appealing smile "Ella, Ella Bookman," she said shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you. Welcome to our school," she said enthusiastically, her hazel eyed shinning.

"Thanks, everyone here is so friendly. I feel very welcomed. So I guess we're lab partners today."

"Guess so," she said cheerfully.

The teacher gave the class a brief lecture on what he wanted them to do and read the lab safety instructions, even though all the would be doing is looking at various cells under a microscope and determine which phase of mitosis they were in. Pretty simple.

Ella couldn't wait to get started. She was the first one to grab a microscope and slides and got to work. She was completely focused on observing the slides only looking up occasionally to scribble down the answers. She was almost as take charge as Velma in the lab!

Both were quiet for a while. Daphne's mind was racing, trying to find something to talk about that would hopefully get her to the subjects surrounding Matt but Ella was so focused Daphne could say, "I'm not wearing any underwear," and she still wouldn't look up.

Instead, it was Ella who broke the silence, "Done!" she chirped. "Sorry, I didn't let you look, but I can be kind of a control freak when it comes to science I just get so into it. Here, you can just copy my answers," as she handed the paper to Daphne.

"Uhhhh…thanks, but I can do it myself." Daphne replied.

"Suit yourself." Ella shrugged. "So how do you like our school so far?"

"I love it! It's a lot different than my school back home. I only wish my boyfriend were here. I miss him soooo much!" Daphne swooned.

At that Ella's face changed from a perky grin to a melancholy frown. She was silent for a moment, then muttered, "Well, at least you have a boyfriend," and turned her attention back to her book.

"Why? Did your boyfriend break up with you or something?" Daphne asked innocently.

"I don't want to talk about it," she mumbled.

"But talking might help you feel be-"

"It's none of your business!" she yelled.

The class stop looking at their labs, staring at them and whispering amongst themselves.

"Ladies, please, keep it down," teacher told them.

And with that, neither of them spoke a word for the rest of the period.

* * * * * * *

Luckily, Shaggy and Velma were having better luck Matt's last period of the day- Tech Theatre. It was held at the theatre across the street where the school performed their plays and concerts…it is also where Matt died.

It was a good size for only a high school. It sat about 3,000 people with a 60 foot stage in the center. The walls were burgundy accented with a light blue which matched the seat cushions.

"No, Gavin. The fence goes to the _right_ of the farm house," a round, dark haired man with a pencil in his ear directed the skinny, blonde kid Velma recognized from art. He, along with five others, were setting up the set on stage.

"Hi, we're the new students," Velma said motioning to Shaggy and herself.

He peered his clipboard, "Ah yes, well I think I'm going to put you over there," pointing at a table with a huge easel on it, "painting the Emerald City background, okay? Good," he said not waiting for an answer and went to attend business elsewhere.

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you too. I'm Shaggy, this is Velma. We're here

undercover investigating a murder," he said to the now empty space in front of him.

"C'mon, goofball," she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the stage.

They each grabbed a paint brush as Velma's first period friend walked towards them.

"I see you've met the charming Mr. Feldman." the kid Mr. Feldman called Gavin joked.

"Yeah. He seemed a little…"

"Rude, surly, intimidating. Don't take it personally he's like that with everyone.

Especially whenever there's a major production coming up like the spring play next week. He's wound so tight his balls might drop off any day."

"Why's that?" Velma casually asked, hiding a discrete smile.

"He's just obsessed with having thing perfect. He's always throwing a fit about one thing or another."

This immediately caught Velma's attention. "Like tantrums?"

"Something like that. You know. Yelling at kids, throwing stuff around the stage, that kinda thing." the blonde boy explained with a shrug.

Now Velma was really interested. If this guy was throwing fits all the time, how much anger would cause him to harm a student?

"Has it ever gotten….violent?" Velma asked clearing her throat.

Gavin looked slightly taken aback. "Not that I've ever seen. Sure he's gotten in kids faces before, but I don't think he's ever _hit_ anyone. If he's did he'd be out of a job before you could say **"**second act**" **and this is like his dream job. He loves managing plays and concerts, plus he's a total techie. I don't think he'd do something to jeopardize all that."

_Well what about when people aren't around? _Velma wondered pensively. It sounds like Matt had worked closely with the tech supervisor on all the out of class work on the art events.

"Well, how close is he with his stu-"

Velma's question was interrupted by a soft crash followed by a snap, they all turned to see a student lying on the floor, being verbally bashed by Mr. Feldman.

"What the hell happened?" the heavy set man demanded.

"Well…I was taking this tuba back to the prop room like you asked me to sir, but I was kinda heavy and I accidentally tripped on that saw horse over there…and well...fell…"

"Do you realize what you have done?! You've broken Glinda's staff! It was from a specialty costume store way out in L.A. I had to order it a month ahead of time. There's no way we can get a new one by next week! That was one of the single most important set pieces we had and you broke it!"

He went on shouting and using several vulgarities- Velma thought she'd have a heart attack and Shaggy was shaking like a leaf. The boy was in even worse shape, all the color was drained from his face and his eyes were filled with fear. Real fear. If nothing else, Mr. Feldman had a seriously bad temper. And sometimes bad tempers can get out of control.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thank you so much for all the people who have taken time to review. I appreciate your encouragement and critique. You guys are the greatest! Another special thanks to my awesome editor Lady Tev. Once again, I do not own Scooby Doo, but I wish I did J

Chapter 4:

It was Daphne's last period of the day. She and Ella were in English together and had still not spoken a word to one another since the incident. Daphne figured she's have to break the silence sometime or else she's never get any information, but she decided to wait until after class, she didn't want to risk _another_ outburst, especially on her first day.

She silently followed Ella to the restroom. The other girl put her books on the floor and started reapplying her light layers of make up with a strangely blank look in her eyes. Daphne set her backpack on the floor as well, sighing slowly. "I'm sorry for bugging you earlier. I didn't mean to upset you,"_ even though I didn't really do anything wrong and shouldn't be the one apologizing you little priss_, but she didn't day that part out loud.

Ella stopped working on her make up and looked straight at Daphne. "I'm sorry too," giving Daphne a weak smile. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I've been a little on edge lately. My boyfriend just died in a horrible accident."

"Oh, that's awful. What happened?"

She stared at Daphne thoughtfully, wondering if she should tell her or not. Finally, she closed her eyes for a second, drew a deep breath and told her story. "Well, he and I were supposed to see a movie after school last Thursday. He said he just had to stop by the theatre across the street to dust the lighting fixtures for his tech teacher and then he'd meet at the movies…but he never showed. I must have called his cell phone six or seven times before calling his house number. His mother answered and told me he fell from the catwalk and…" her voice broke off, …"he died," she choked tears forming in her eyes.

"Wow. I'm so sorry," Daphne said rubbing the crying girl's shoulder. She paused a bit, wondering if Ella would be stable enough to question, she thought she might as well try. "So He fell, huh? That's weird. Usually those things are pretty safe and they don't let people up there unless they know what they're doing."

"Are you saying he was stupid or something?!" Ella practically exploded at her, outraged that she would suggest such a thing.

Daphne held up her hands in defense, realizing she was treading on thin ice, "No! I didn't mean it like that. I'm just saying it's weird that someone with so much experience would just fall off like that….."

Ella paused for a moment, appearing to consider what "Vanessa" had said.

"You're saying….that someone pushed him?" An odd look passed over her face as she asked, but Daphne couldn't place it.

"Well, do you think that's possible?" Carefully now…

Ella's lip quivered, and she suddenly started sobbing.

"No! No one would want Matt dead. He's sweet and smart and is friendly to everybody. Everyone loved him," she whimpered, clearly upset about having to think about it. "He was so wonderful," she bawled and buried she face in her hands.One thing was for sure if, she really did kill Matt, she deserved an academy award.

Daphne put a hand her shoulder without saying a word.

Ella began to calm down and dried her tears, "Thanks for the talk. I haven't really cried since the day he died. I didn't know I had anymore tears left," Ella said gathering her books and walking out. When Daphne was reaching for her backpack she noticed a small, purple notebook that must have slipped off Ella's stack on books. She flipped through it and realized it was an agenda book. She looked at a few of the entries.

Wednesday, April 22: 3:10-5:00 Movie with Matt

Thursday , April 23: 3:30-5:30 Picnic in the park with Matt

5:45-7:00 Movie at my house

Friday, April 24: 3:00-7:00 Going to the mall with Matt

7:15-10:00 Dancing at Club Crab

Saturday, April 25: Matt has to help his grandma around the house until 2:00, maybe meet up for a late lunch.

Almost everyday there was an entry that had something to do with Matt.

"Wow. This is a little freaky. She's with him 24/7. It's like her whole life revolves around him. I better show this to the rest of the gang."

* * * * * *

Fred's 7th hour started off with a rousing game of dodge ball. The young sleuth had always considered himself to be moderately athletic and he was eager to be back in P.E.,which had always been one of his favorite classes. As he picked up the ball he felt a surge of adrenaline flow through him.

When the whistle blew, the gym was like a battlefield. Balls were zipping through the air and nearly took off the coaches head a couple times. Fred was by far the strongest person on his team and just kept chucking one after another. He was in a personal war with a bulky, dark haired teen who seemed to be the leader of the opposite team. It wasn't supposed to be aggressive, but things got out of control quickly. They were relatively equal so they both kept missing each other. Fred held the ball tight in his hand and waited for the right moment. He dodged all his opponent shots with ease. Suddenly one of the adversary's teammates was hit hard in the shins with a ball and fell to the ground. As his foe turned his head and ordered his teammate to get up Fred threw the ball and hit him right in the gut. The kid fell to his knees, having all the wind knocked out of him.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to throw it that hard," Fred apologized sincerely.

The teen just glared at him and moved to the side to sit out, waiting for his turn to be back in. After a few minutes he was back, shooting Fred dirty looks.

Then when Fred bent down to retrieve a ball, he was hit in the head with a hard, rubber dodge ball.

"Stevens, you're out. You know hitting above the neckline is against the rules," the slim, but muscular gym teacher ordered. The cynical teen just looked at Freddy and snickered.

"You all right, kid?" The middle aged gym teacher asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Fred mumbled, "He just kinda surprised me there."

"Well, I'm going to give you a pass to the nurse just to be safe." the teacher said writing a pass.

"No, really I'm ok," Fred insisted, holding his head sorely.

"Listen, just get some ice and lie down a bit, you don't want to start feeling light headed during class, all right?" The well-built man said, handing him the pass.

"Ok, thanks," Fred said.

Fred walked down to the basement rubbing his aching head, "Man that really hurt," he moaned.

He changed back into his normal clothes and grabbed his backpack, when something caught his eye- Jake's bag. _Hmmm…should I search it? _he thought to himself._ It's not right to look through other people's stuff…but then again I might not ever get this chance again, something in that bag could wrap up this whole case._

His curiosity got the best of him, he glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was around, then carefully began rummaging through the bag. He slowly unzipped the largest part of the backpack, he bit his lower lip, and slightly closed he eyes, acting like he was disarming a bomb instead of looking through someone's bag. He began to relax and carefully felt through the backpack, looking for anything that could link Jake to Matt's death. The papers he found were all notes or assignments. The juiciest thing he found was a Post It that said "Pick up mom's ointment."

Finally he came to the small pouch pocket on the left side. He pulled out a small plastic Ziploc bag with several white pills in it. Being on the football and wrestling team in high school, this was something Fred was all too familiar with- steroids. He had seen a few of his teammates use these to "boost their game." Fred let out a low whistle. "I wonder if Matt knew about these," he muttered to himself.

Just then, he heard the footsteps above him stop, he glanced at the clock. "Aw Jeez! They're coming down. I better get out of here." He put the bag back and flew up the stairs.

* * * * * * *

After school, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby met at Manny's like they did the night before. They were excited to share their information with each other.

"Guys, I think I solved the mystery," Daphne shouted with glee.

"Me too. It was Jake," Freddy declared.

"Jake? Like, it was that crazy tech manager," Shaggy corrected. Velma remained silent. She knew it was to soon to accuse anybody.

"Ro, rit's Rister Randerson," Scooby said.

Soon everyone was yelling and talking over each other, trying to prove themselves right. It was like watching a political debate.

"Just look at Ella's notebook, she's clearly obsessed with Matt. Maybe she found out he was cheating on her."

"Uhhh…guys," Velma interrupted quietly.

"Are you kidding- killing someone over THAT! It's obviously Jake. Matt figured out Jake was doing steroids and was going to turn him in in order to protect him. He would be kicked off the team for sure and probably ruin any chance he had at playing in college. He freaked out, lost control, and killed him." Fred evaluated.

"Guys," she said a little louder, but still no one heard her.

"No way man, who kills their best friend?! I'm telling' ya, it's that crazy tech manager. He almost lost it when a guy sat on a wand. I'd hate to see what he's like if someone really messed up."

"EVERYBODY QUIET!!!!!" Velma screamed at the top of her lungs and the whole group whipped their heads around and stared at her.

"Thank you. Now, it's clear that each one of our suspects has a reason for wanting Matt out of the picture, but we don't have any solid evidence to incriminate any of them.

So tomorrow, I think we should go to the school early and search Mr. Anderson's office as well as Mr. Feldman's booth in the theatre. We can see if we can find any evidence linking them to Matt's death. Then we'll see who really did it."


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. I couldn't put anything else in without it seeming out of place. I promise the story will start to pick up pretty soon. Thanks for the great reviews and support. I do not own Scooby Doo or the rest of Mystery Inc. This story is for entertainment purposes only.

Chapter 5:

"C'mon, you scardy cats. We've got to get in there." Velma urged pulling on Scooby's collar and Shaggy's arm. Shaggy and Scooby refused to move from there spots safely outside the school.

"Ri'm not a rardy rat. R'im a rardy rog," Scooby replied.

"Whatever. We have to get in there and solve this mystery."

"Like, noooooo thanks. I'm staying right here," Shaggy said, crossing his arms. Scooby mimicked him.

"Really?" Daphne asked. "This new box of White Cheddar/S'more flavored Scooby Snax says different," she teased shaking the box of the oh so tempting Scooby Snax.

"White Cheddar and S'more Scooby Snax!" Shaggy and Scooby cried, forgetting their fear and snatching the box and began munching on the tasty snacks.

"Ok, gang, let's move," Fred commanded leading the gang to the empty school. "Scooby, you still got the keys Mr. Anderson gave you?"

"Ruh huh, Ruh huh," Scooby nodded, handing the keys to Fred.

Fred unlocked the door on the side of the school and stepped inside.

There didn't seem to be anyone in the halls, it was 6:00, classes didn't start for another 2 hours, plenty of time to look around. They still kept quiet in case there were some secretaries around or teachers catching up on their grading.

"Like, are you sure this this is a good idea?" Shaggy asked as they approached Mr. Anderson's office.

"Don't worry. Mr. Anderson doesn't arrive at his office until 7:00. We have plenty of time," Velma assured him.

As soon as Fred unlocked the door he handed the keys to Velma.

"Okay, now you, Shaggy, and Scooby search Mr. Feldman's booth and see what you can dig up. Daphne and I will look around here. We'll meet outside the cafeteria in 40 minutes. Got it?"

Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby gave a thumbs up and started towards the theatre.

"Ok, let's check this place out," he said motioning for Daphne to follow him. The office was very organized and impersonal. There wasn't a single photograph or personal touch in the in office, nor was there a paper or pen out of place. The room seemed very cold and unwelcoming.

"Well, this shouldn't be too hard," Fred said optimistically, "you check the filing cabinet and I'll check the desk."

As Fred riffled through the drawers, he couldn't find anything unusual. The desk was filled with basic stuff- school announcements, staff directory, letters on upcoming board meetings. He finally came to the last one, but couldn't get it open**, **"Aw man, this one's locked."

"I got this," Daphne said with a confident smile. She pulled out a hair pin and wiggled it through the keyhole, it only took her a few seconds to get it open.

"Hey thanks. Did you find anything in the file cabinets?"

"A lotta insurance records, health records on the teachers, nothing that will help the case," Daphne replied, now going through the last drawer.

"Peachy, well, maybe he didn't do it then, at least that's one suspect we can cross off our list," he said cheerfully.

"I wouldn't be so sure, look at this," she said handing Fred the papers.

He took them, flipping through the first few before gasping out loud. They were bank statements spanning the last six months, and it looked like the account was scraping the bottom of the barrel, or had been.

"Whoa….Look at this! There has been a transferal of funds to a private bank account after every single large deposit that's been made for the last six months!"

"But who's account is it? And why would they be moving the money?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know, but this is starting to look very suspicious…."

* * * * * * *

"Jinkies! This place is a mess," Velma said as she entered the stuffy lighting booth. The small room had papers littered all over. There were stacks of scripts, crumpled paper, odds and ends. It also smelled like a mix of burnt coffee and plaster.

"At least it's small so it shouldn't be too hard to search. You guys look over there and I'll look over here," she gestured.

"So what are we supposed to be looking for again?" Shaggy asked sifting through a stack of playbills.

"Honestly," Velma paused, "I'm not sure. I'm hoping we can just look around and stumble onto something. That's usually how things work out."

"Like, I hope we stumble across a triple fudge sundae with nuts."

"Rand a rerry," Scooby added.

"Yeah, and I great big glob of whip cream," Shaggy licked his lips.

"Can you too think about anything but food?" Velma asked.

"Yeah, like what good's a sundae without a cold glass of milk," Shaggy answered.

Velma rolled her eyes and started picking up the crumpled papers on the floor; lots of receipts, notes to self, to do lists, and then one piece of paper caught her interest..

"Jinkies," Velma said in a soft voice.

"What?" Shaggy asked, peering over her shoulder.

Dear Mr. Feldman,

I'm sorry, but I will not be able to work at the spring play this year. Some things have come up and I am unable to spend so much time on the remaining practices and performance as well as give it the care and attention it needs. I would like to talk to you to sort this out. And hopefully find a way to make this up to you. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Matt Palmer


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Hey there! Remember me? Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Between school and work I've hardly had any free time. Thank God for weekends! Anywhoz thanks for sticking with me and enjoy this next chapter of Murder in Coolsville. And remember, odontophobia is the fear of teeth...o.O

...Also I do not own Scooby Doo.

Chapter 6:

Fred was undressing in the musty locker room below the gym, brainstorming ideas of how to approach Jake with the steroid issue. _Should I just confront him, tell him I know_ _about and to start talking or else_, he thought pulling a white t-shirt over his head. _No…that could blow my cover, plus, I don't want to end up like Matt_, he sighed, this was going to be tricky. "Hmmm…maybe I could…yeah that my work," he said out loud. He walked nonchalantly towards Jake who was sitting at the other end of the row of lockers tying his shoes.

"Hey Jake, what's up?" Fred asked with a smile.

Jake forced a grin, finding something very interesting on the floor. He didn't seem to want to make eye contact, "Not much."

Fred nodded, thinking quickly how to start this. Suddenly he leaned up the wall, acting genuinely interested in what he would say next.

"Hey you're on the baseball team right?"

Jake looked up, for some reason slightly suspicious. "Yeah, pitcher."

Fred cocked his head to the side harmlessly. "That's neat. I've been thinking about trying out for a sport, but I dunno how I'd compare with these guys."

Jake studied him for a moment, "You look like you're in good shape to me."

Fred shrugged, "Yeah, I lift weights every now and then, but I've never actually gone out for a sport before. Most of the players have been doing this since middle school."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Jake responded, trying to blow him off.

"Man, I wish there was a way I could get stronger quicker," Fred sighed.

"Don't worry about it. You bulk up a lot on the field. It just takes practice," Jake said turning to head up towards the door.

"Yeah, but I mean without all the work. I mean….why do a million pushups when all you really gotta do is know the right people, right? People with the right tools, if you know what I mean?" He let out a casual laugh, but his eyes didn't leave Jake's, as if questioning him about such a thing. Jake's face was contorted in a mix of rage and disbelief, and he practically started screaming at Fred.

"What the hell are you talking about?! Do you have any idea how bad those are for you? Do I look like I gotta death wish? Geez how dumb can you get?"

Fred threw his hands up in a gesture of peace and threw in another laugh.

"Haha! Come on, Jake buddy, I was just kidding. I don't wanna end up with shrunken jewels and acne. Puberty is bad enough."

"Some people…don't find it so funny." And with that the boy was gone up the stairs, leaving Fred to stare at the spot he had been standing only few seconds before.

"Some people, huh?…I wonder how they really felt about it…"

* * * * * * *

During lunch, everyone except Fred was gathered under the big Oak tree outside the school, discussing the case.

"So, I did a little poking around in the administrative offices and found Matt worked there as a student assistant, meaning he probably had access to the files and maybe stumbled across something he shouldn't have," Daphne announced, setting down a photocopied sign in roster with Matt's name on it

"Well," Velma said adjusting her glasses, "That makes Mr. Anderson an even bigger suspect than I thought. Hmmm…this case just got more interesting."

"Yeah, but there's also some bad news." Daphne muttered darkly, casting an exasperated glance at Scooby.

"What?" Velma inquired.

"The lunch ladies caught Scooby trying to steal some food from the cafeteria kitchen and…long story short…Mr. Anderson took his keys away."There was a quiet whine as Scooby's ears lowered sadly.

"Scooby," Velma scolded, wiping her hand over her eyes.

"Rime rorry," He apologized, hanging his head.

"It's ok, pal, like I woulda done it too," Shaggy reassured, putting a hand on his companion's head. Scooby gave a sheepish grin and gave his best friend a big, wet kiss.

Velma sat down and rested her chin on her knees, "Shoot. I really wanted to search the theater." Velma sighed, wracking her developed brain for a solution. **"**How are we supposed to get in now?"

Just then Fred came running up to them, "Man, do I have a story to tell you guys," he breathed. "You won't believe how Jake reacted when I mentioned steroids…." and recounted the unpleasant incident with Jake.

* * * * * * *

After their lunch break, they resumed their usual schedule. Velma and Shaggy were in tech class, painting a piece of scenery, Shaggy was getting especially into it.

"You know, I think I'm starting to like this," Shaggy commented.

"What? Undercover work?" Velma asked curiously.

"No painting," Shaggy said cheerfully. "Like maybe I'll take up an art class in my spare time. Le Shag Gee 'as created a vondervul vork of art called Le Road of le Yellow Bricks," he said in a horrible French accent. "Es magnifique no?" He asked, motioning to the Yellow Brick Road.

"No, _Le Shag Gee,_" Velma chuckled. "Hopefully we'll be done with this case before you get too far, Picasso. Although, I must admit, I do enjoy this kind of work- going undercover, investigating a mysterious death, searching for clues to catch a murderer. It's rather exciting, a nice break from all those ghosts and haunted houses."

"Don't jinx it! Like, what if his ghost _is_ around," Shaggy warned, waving his arms in the air.

Velma rolled her eyes, "I doubt it. If there was a ghost, I'm sure we'd have run into it by now. We have a knack for that kind of thing. Speaking of scary things, where's Mr. Feldman? We really should be keeping an eye on him," she said, looking around.

"Feldman? I think he went out to the ticket booth to make a phone call or something," a chubby kid in red told them.

Velma gasped, "It could be something important. Let's go," she said grabbing Shaggy's arm.

The lobby area was fairly small with doors on the left and right side for entering the actual theatre area. In between the doors was a small room used as a ticket booth/coat check room. It was directly to the right of Shaggy and Velma who has opened the door a few inches to listen in on what Mr. Feldman was saying.

"Five?! Do you think the costumes can be delivered any earlier? I'm gonna be out of town to get a replacement wand for the one this kid broke. I'm leaving right after school and won't be back until six. Gotta drive all the way to Lamesville to get it."

There was a pause, Mr. Feldman groaned, "Fine. All right, I'll tell the janitors to leave the door unlocked when they leave. Mm hm. G'bye," he grunted, hanging up the phone. "Can't even bring it an hour later. So much for customer value," he muttered to himself.

Shaggy and Velma looked at each other. A mischievous smile crossed Velma's face. Shaggy gulped, "Like, you're not thinking what I think you're thinking. Are you?"

"It's the perfect opportunity, the doors will be unlocked and Mr. Feldman won't be back for an hour. Besides, Scooby lost his keys, this might be our only chance to investigate the theatre."

Shaggy crossed his arms, "Ohhhhh noooooo! No, no, no, no, no!"

* * * * * * *

"No. No, no, no, noooooo," Shaggy whined as Fred dragged him and Scooby by their collars towards the theatre.

The crew snuck in a little before five and hid in the bathrooms while the deliverymen brought the costumes. When they were gone, the gang headed straight for the stage.

"Shaggy, I need you to go up to the catwalk," Velma ordered.

"Me? Why?"

"I need to you stand up there and lean back from different angles so I can best determine where exactly Matt fell. From there we can determine how hard he was pushed or how strong the person had to have been, which would narrow down our suspects."

"But why me?" Shaggy complained.

"Because your height and weight is most similar to Matt's, so it'll be the most accurate representation of what could have happened." Shaggy's eyebrows knitted together slightly, and Velma knew what was coming next.

"Nooo way, man. Like, what if I fall too?"

"That's just a chance we'll have to take," Fred grinned pushing him towards the ladder.

"Exit stage left," Shaggy announced and began running in the opposite direction.

"Wait would you do it for a- oh shoot, we're all out of Scooby Snax," Daphne sighed shaking the empty box. "Hmmm…there has to be something here," she mumbled, digging through her purse. "Aha! Would you do it for 3 Tic Tacs and a Slim Jim?"

No answer.

"Shaggy? Shag-gy!" Daphne called.

Shaggy was already half way out the door, but when it came to food, it was like he had the ears of a cat, and came running back.

The group felt a gust of wind go by and in an instant the treats were out of Daphne hand and Shaggy was in the middle of their semicircle, munching on the Slim Jim while Scooby stared jealously.

"Hey that was mine," Fred whined.

Daphne gave him an amused smile, "I will get you another one when we're done."

Fred crossed his arms and pouted, "Steal my Slim Jim," he mumbled. After tossing the Tic Tacs in his mouth, Shaggy began climbing up the ladder.

"Re rarerul," Scooby cautioned.

"Don't worry, Scoob. Careful is my middle name."

"I thought it was Ernest," Velma joked.

"Verrrry funny," Shaggy said dryly, continuing up the ladder.

When he reached the top, he looked around cautiously, making sure Matt's ghost was no where in sight. Everywhere he went, there always seemed to be a ghost on his tail

"We already know the victim's body was found among seats 3, 4, 5, 6 in row F, if Shaggy could just stand up there I can use basic trigonometry to determine what angle he fell at based on the height difference from him to the floor. With Shaggy up there, I can add his height to the distance from the catwalk to the floor. After finding the angle I can uncover if he was indeed pushed, how hard he was pushed, and even how strong the person must have been."

"Ahhhh…my brain hurts," Fred moaned holding his head.

"Ok, now move a little more to the right," Velma directed. "Perfect," as she began to scribble down the various lengths and angles. "Ok, now lean in at a 90 degree angle."

"Like this?" Shaggy asked nervously.

"Yes, just hold it for a couple minutes."

"Like, I hope you don't ask me to fall next."

"Ok, if my calculations are correct his body fell from a 23.4 degree angle. I'll need to make a few more estimates with my graphing calculator, and from there I can almost reconstruct the scene to see if he _was _pushed and how hard and see which one of our suspects would best match that strength," she paused."So what next?" she asked Freddie who was still lost in Velma's equation.

"Uh, right." Fred said, regaining composure. "Now, we look for clues. I'll take a second look around the catwalk, Daphne and Velma, search here, and you two, watch the doors to make sure Mr. Cranky doesn't get here early."

Shaggy and Scooby gave a mock salute and marched to the lobby where they would be able to spot him through the glass doors.

Daphne and Velma felt through the cushions while Fred searched the aisles. There was nothing but lint and the occasional used tissue. Finally, Velma got something. It was fairly thin and flat- a phone!

She flipped the red Razr open and noticed the screensaver was a picture of Matt and Ella cuddling on a bench in the park, both looking very happy. She deduced he had to be either Matt or Ella's, but judging by the Linkin Park sticker to the back, probably Matt's. "Jinkies."

"Daphne, do you know what kind of phone Ella has?" she asked over her shoulder to Daphne in the row behind her.

"Yeah, I think it was a Samsung Glyde, really cute." Well, that confirmed it, this was definitely Matt's phone.

"Yes!"Velma cheered holding the phone close to her to her, bouncing up and down. This could hold the answer to the mystery.

"Hey, what's that?" Daphne asked Velma as she flipped through several old texts and recent calls.

"The final clue," she smiled, closing the phone. "I think I have this mystery just about wrapped up."

A/N: Well there you go. Who this was my longest chapter yet. So did you liked it? Dislike it? Let me know in a review or message. Chapter 7 should be up soon because it's fairly short and I already have it partially written. Then everyone can submit a who they think did it. Thanks again guys J Lots of love 3


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Ok, just a few things before we get the ball rolling. First, I would like to say that the gang isn't completely sure who the perpetrator is, they can only be about 70% sure because they don't have any hard evidence, and that's why all this is necessary. Plus, you can't have Scooby-Doo without the trap, it's just wrong! Second, is the story too much from Velma's POV? I noticed that in the last chapter and have been trying to work on it. Another thing, as you can probably tell by the mention of cell phones, this is set more towards the What's New Scooby-Doo time, not the classic Scooby-Doo Where Are You era so the character's personality traits are more distinct, like it demonstrates in What's New Scooby-Doo and is also written in the more modern style. And finally I would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who has read/faved/reviewed my story. I appreciate your support as well as constructive criticism. Ok, well I think that's it then, onto the story!

(Shaggy walks in) "Wait! Like, aren't you forgetting something?"

(ponders for a moment) No I don't think so…

(Shaggy whispers)

Oh, yeah, thanks. (clears throat) I do not own Scooby Doo ^_^

Chapter 7:

The gang clustered around Velma, staring excitedly at the breakthrough evidence. Usually Velma didn't share her evidence with everyone until the very end. But this was different. This wasn't just another abandoned house, supposedly haunted by a ghost of monster that always turned out to be some bad guy in a mask. This was about getting justice for Matt. His life had barely begun when it was ripped away from himand Velma knew the rest of the gang was just as anxious to uncover the killer as she was.

"Guys, I think I have a plan," Fred announced with his signature catch phrase. The group gathered in a huddle as Fred explained his plan.

* * * * * * *

They arrived at the apartment just after 7:00 after dinner at Manny's. Fred phoned Mr. Anderson's house and asked him to give passes to Ella and Jake so he and Mystery Inc. could question them. He seemed a little suspicious at first, but after some prodding he gave in. Fred gave a slight sigh as he hung up the phone. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, they will have the perpetrator in their grasp.

* * * * * * *

There was a rap at the door. "Come in," Mr. Anderson called from his office desk.

"Hello Mr. Anderson," Daphne greeted as she entered the office followed by Fred and Velma.

"Hello kids, so I hear you have some interesting new for me," he said straightening up in his chair.

"Yes sir, but we'd rather not discuss it until Jake and Ella arrive," Velma politely stated.

"All right then," he said, drawing his attention back to some papers on his desk.

As if on cue, there was another knock at the door and Jake and Ella entered the room. Jake seemed to be fairly relaxed, walking nonchalantly towards the chair opposite Mr. Anderson, as if being called down to the principal's office wasn't a big deal for him. Ella followed silently, staring at her shoes. Clearly, she was _not_ sent down to his office very often.

"So what's this about Mr. A?" Jake asked casually as he removed his baseball cap and ran his fingers through his shaggy, sandy blonde hair.

"Yes," Ella added, "I don't want to miss to much of my French class," sitting in the seat next to Jake's.

"Well, you see, there's something I want to talk to you two about," the grey haired man started, putting down the file he was looking at and interlocking his fingers**. **"You see-"

Just then, he was interrupted by the sound of something stampeding down the hall. Suddenly there was a crash as Shaggy and Scooby came bursting into the office. They were both grinning in excitement and Shaggy waved a video tape around in his hand.

"Guys! Like wait til you see what Scooby and I found!" Shaggy yelled.

"Not now Shaggy, we're busy," Daphne replied.

"No, you gotta see this, man. It's like a surveillance tape from the theatre. I think it caught the accident!"

"Really?!" Daphne asked with excitement.

"Reah," Scooby beamed.

"Will you excuse us for a minute," Velma smiled as the gang filed out of the room. The three suspects stared back, their faces a mix of shock and confusion.

"You really found a surveillance tape?" Velma cried in disbelief.

"Ruh huh, ruh huh," Scooby nodded, Velma took the tape from Shaggy to examine it.

"Oh, shoot," Daphne groaned loudly. "Our VCR at home is broken. How are we going to watch it?"

"I got an idea. My pal Jeff has one at his house, maybe we can watch it over there. He won't be home from work til 6:00 though. Why don't we store it in my locker for safe keeping, I don't want it smashed up in our backpacks or getting lost. Plus I'm sure Mr. Anderson won't mind leaving us a key since its for the case," Fred said.

"Great idea Freddy!"

"Thanks Daph," he said with a smile, showing he was pleased with himself. "I'll have to meet up with Jeff before to make sure it's ok. Do you think you guys could pick up the tape?"

"Sure Fred, what's you're locker number?" Velma asked, taking out her trusty notepad.

"1291."

"Ok, and the combination…"

"12-34-19."

"Excellent. Well it looks like we won't have to question them after all," Velma verified, slipping the notepad back in her pocket, then reentering the office.

"Sorry. We just made a huge breakthrough in the case. We won't need to question you," Velma said, dismissing Ella and Jake.

"Question _us_?!" they shouted in disbelief.

Velma waved her hand dismissively. "Yeah. With this there's no reason to. The real killer is bound to be on this tape." She paused for a few seconds, staring thoughtfully down at the tape before looking up to flash them a smile. "Well, bye."

She grabbed Shaggy's arm on her way by and started walking down the hall with Mystery Inc. in tow. As soon as they were out of ear shot Daphne giggled, "Well I think that went well, don't you?"

"Perfect. We were practically shouting over the door, besides its so thin you could hear a pin drop from the hallway, and after the looks on those three's faces I'd say they heard it all," Velma declared.

"Nice job you two," Fred said turning to Shaggy and Scooby, "Your timing was perfect," he complimented.

"Thank you, thank you," Shaggy bowed. Like, maybe instead of being an painter, I'll become an actor. What do you think Scoob?"

"Ro ralent," shaking his paw.

"Whattaya mean 'no talent'?! You heard Freddy, I was great."

"Re rent re," Scooby declared, hamming it up.

"No me," Shaggy argued.

"Ro, re-"

"Enough bickering, you two, you were both great. Now, onto more important matters. We still need to drop the hint by Mr. Feldman. Any ideas Freddy?" Velma asked.

Fred shrugged his shoulders, "You got me. I barely know the guy. You're the only one that knows what will work on him."

"But you're always the one who comes up with the plan."

"Hey, I spent all night working on _this_ one."

"Fine I'll think of something," Velma sighed.

* * * * * * *

"You remember the plan, right," Velma whispered to Shaggy, as the plump director approached the stage.

"You bet," he said, giving, the ok sign.

"I sure hope this works…" she sighed. "So…Shaggy did you hear the principal is closing in on that guy who may have murdered a student here. He even has a tape of it."

"Well, yes, Velma I did hear that. And, like, I also heard the tape will be stored in locker number 1291, combination 12-34-19 to be picked up at 5:30...or so I heard."

Velma mentally smacked her palm against her forehead. See, finding evidence she was good at, when it came to puzzle, she was the master, heck, even planning was wasn't so bad. Acting, though….was not her strongest point.

But it seemed like Mr. Feldman believed them or at least listened to what they were saying because for once he had stopped scribbling on his clipboard and after they were finished, he barked, "Get back to work!"

'Yes. Phase II, complete.' Velma thought to herself with a smile.

* * * * * * *

It was just past four, school had been out for an hour and a half now. It was a good thing too because the bulky, blonde teenage hoisting a net up on the ceiling of the hallway by the west entrance might have drawn some unwanted attention.

"I know I've asked this before, but is the net really necessary? After all as soon as our mystery person approaches the locker, we'll _know_ it's them since I'm pretty sure they won't be wearing a rubber mask when they come. Daphne's even bringing her camera so we really won't need…" she stopped. Fred was giving her a sad, 'but-I-_wanna-_use-the-net' look. She gave a small smile, "All right, for nostalgia's sake."

Fred pumped his fist in the air, "Woo hoo!" he cheered.

"Now, you're sure everyone's left? We don't want to accidentally spring this on a teacher or faculty member. The last thing I want is get a detention for a school I don't even go to anymore," Velma joked.

Fred chuckled, "I got Shag and Scoob searching the classrooms and Daphne's checking the locks on the other doors to make sure no one comes in, except through the west entrance," he gestured towards the door 50 feet away.

A few minutes later, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby joined them in the hallway right around the corner from where they had set the trap. They knew their mystery person would be coming some time between now and 5:30, all the could do now was wait.

* * * * * * *

The sound of a heavy metal door clicking shut roused them from their daydreams; they remained silent and alert. After what seemed like ages, they could hear quiet footsteps approaching. They first few steps were slow, but quickened as they drew closer. The figure turned the corner to the hall where the locker was. Fred pushed a big red button on the remote the released the net. The perpetrator gasped in surprise and they tried to squirm to get the net off of them, but it was no use.

"Hold it right there, Fred ordered (as if the person had much of a choice). "We caught you now…"

A/N: Ooooo…cliffhanger. So who do _you _think did it? Why? Was it Mr. Anderson, the shifty principal? Jake, the troubled best friend? Ella, the jealous girlfriend? Or Mr. Feldman, the enraged tech manager? Let me know in a review or message. If you guess right I'll give you a shout out in my next chapter. Hope you enjoyed it!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry it took a while. I had a lot of ideas for how to do this chapter, but I like this one best. WARNING: brief, mild language in this chapter. Special shout-out to Miss Tev who guessed the culprit right. Thank you to everyone else who guessed and reviewed. I was glad I was able to fool some of you. I would also like to add…ah…who am I kidding?! You just wanna find out who did it so I'll shut up now. Oh! One more thing, I do not own Scooby Doo.

Chapter 8:

Panic washed over her, like being submerged into a frozen pond. Her mind was racing and her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest. Her eyes were wide with fear, too scared to say anything.

"So you're the one responsible for Matt's death**, **aren't you, _Ella_?" Velma accused.

"No! You don't understand it was an accident. I swear I would never kill Matt. I loved him!"

"You sure have a funny way of showing it." Velma snapped, glaring at her.

Ella started bawling. Curling her fingers over her eyes, sobs wracked her thin shoulders and tears poured over her cheeks.

"I can't believe you would push him over the railing for something so trivial…."

"No!" The girl shrieked through her tears. "Please! Just…let me explain."

Taking a deep breath, she stared at the floor and started talking in an eerily monotone voice. " I wanted to plan a movie with Matt, so I went up to the catwalk where I knew he'd be working to talk to him about it.When I did, he said he couldn't go because he already had something planned with that stupid friend of his. So we started yelling. I said he was committed enough and he said he just needed to spend some time with his friend. I guess things got a little out of hand because when I got closer to him he stepped back and fell and that's the truth."

"You expect us to believe that a six foot tall guy will plenty of experience inthe theatre just "fell off" a catwalk _with_ a metal guardrail?" Velma probed.

"I know it sounds crazy. I don't even know _how _it happened, but it's the truth. I ran down to see if he was ok, but it was too late," choking out the words. "I was too scared to tell anyone because I knew they'd blame me!"

"So you let him lie there for someone else to find instead of calling an ambulance, you selfish little-" The gang turned around to locate the source of the familiar voice across the hall.

"Jake! What are you doing here?!" Fred asked, as the furious teenager, stalked towards them, his eyesdead set on Ella.

"I could here you guys planning your little stakeout the other day so I came here to see who it was that killed my best friend," he growled, his knuckles white from clenching them so hard.

"Jake! That's enough!" Fred had to hold one of the enraged boy's arms for fear of him physically attacking Ella. Jake's eyes were wide with hatred for the girl under the net. Ella shrank back, more tears pouring out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please don't tell anyone. I swear it was an accident! Please don't tell..," she pleaded through her sobbing. Daphne took a step forward and crouched next to the net, staring at her evenly.

"Telling the truth is always the right thing. If you don't, you only end digging yourself out of a hole….the more you lie...the deeper the hole gets."

Everyone was quiet for a moment, even Jake, who for some reason found the floor very interesting at the moment. Velma was looking at Ella carefully, trying to find a crack in the girl's act.

She _was_ pretty convincing. In their many years of sleuthing, they had been able to pick up when a person was lying; they could tell at the very least, truly felt remorse for what she did, not just for getting caught. Could she be telling the truth? It was an internal battle between instinct and logic. Neither one was really winning at the moment.

Velma sighed, breaking the awkward silence, "I'll call the police," she said taking out her cell phone, which made Ella cry even more. "Fred could you do me a favor and call Mr. Anderson and ask if he and Mr. Feldman can come too. We're going to put an end to this thing once and for all."

* * * * * * *

Fifteen minutes later Mr. Anderson, Mr. Feldman, and an officer from the Coolsville Police Department joined them in the hallway. Ella was now out of the net and into handcuffs, still choking back tears. Mr. Anderson couldn't look any prouder. You'd think _he_ was the one caught the culprit. Mr. Feldman looked absolutely bewildered by it all.

"Well. I gotta hand it to you kids. You did it again, but what makes you so sure this young lady is responsible for this?" the policeman, who looked to be in his early 30s, asked.

"Well, our first clue was the agenda book," Velma said as she began counting off the pieces of evidence they had uncovered. "I noticed how practically everyday she had something planned with Matt, except for the week leading up to the murder. I presumed they might have been experiencing trouble in their relationship. The second clue was the angle at which he fell. When we searched the theatre the other day, I had calculated Matt fell at a 23 degree angle, which means he must have been pushed by someone light or not very strong. Ella was the one who best fit that description. And my final clue was the cell phone. Daphne mentioned Ella was frantically calling Matt when she didn't hear back from him, but when I checked it, there were no voice mails or missed calls."

"But like, how do we know any of these guys didn't have something to do with it?" Shaggy spoke in a hushed tone hoping no one outside of his group of friends would hear him. "I mean, they were acting pretty fishy too, ya know. Like, what about Mr. Feldman? He's angry all time and we know he was supposed to meet Matt right before he died. Maybe he and Ella were in this together."

"What?!" Oops…busted! Mr. Feldman looked absolutely appalled by such an accusation.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy grinned sheepishly and hide behind Scooby.

"How dare you suspect me of murdering one of my own students! I admit I can be a bit…temperamental at times, but I have such a passion for the theatre I can't help it sometimes, but I would never do anything to harm a student."

"Ok, but what about Mr. Anderson taking money from the school? We never _were _able to solve that part of the mystery." Daphne pointed out. All eyes turned to Mr. Anderson who gawked wide eyed, his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

"Yeah…what _did_ happen to the money you were embezzling from the school? Putting it into your money personal retirement fund?" Fred questioned, crossing his arms with a knowing stare.

Everyone glared angrily at Mr. Anderson who held up his hands defensively and glanced nervously at the group. Looking to each face, searching for some kind of emotion other than scrutiny, he caved in.

"All right. If you must know I was putting it into an savings account towards the construction of an indoor pool for the school so our swim team won't have to waste there practice time traveling to the YMCA on the other side of town. It's ridiculous! Maybe now we can finally start placing at competitions," he ranted. "I already got permission from the superintendent so it's completely legitimate."

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" the ever suspicious Velma inquired, rubbing her chin.

"You can call him yourself. Please, his number's in my office." The gang paused for a moment wondering whether or not to believe him. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement, letting it go for the moment, but maybe taking him up on that, once everything here was straightened out.

Velma spoke first, "All right I guess you check out. The only person we haven't questioned is…Jake. Mind if we talk to you in private?"

"Uh…sure I guess," he said, giving an uncertain glance at the gang, but followed anyway.

"We'll only be a minute," Daphne said, excusing the group as they walked down the hall and into an empty classroom.

"So what's up?" Jake asked, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"We know about the steroids, Jake," Fred said cutting right to the chase.

The boy visibly flinched at the statement."What?! You're crazy. I don't do steroids!" He sputtered uselessly, suddenly glancing at the door. Fred took a casual step to the left, blocking the exit for the time being. Calmly, carefully, he continued**, **using a neutral yet firm voice.

"There's no use trying to lie, we have proof the you took them."

"Have you guys been spying on me?!" He shouted angrily, glaring at them, and especially Fred, in betrayal. He backed away slightly, and the gang thought he might try to force his way out. Fred tensed and readied himself for a fight, but Velma's calculating voice punctured the tense silence.

"You might want to tell us the truth before the school board and your family find out about it," Velma all but ordered him sternly.

Jake seemed to be weighing his options, but he was outnumbered. So he exhaled deeply, running both hands through his hair, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"All right. I was doing it- but it was only for a little bit. My buddy have me some saying it would help me play better and…" He turned around and wiped his hand over his face, heaving a sigh. It was hard getting this off his chest. "….and I really need a baseball scholarship so I took it." His arms wrapped around his chest. "I ….I didn't think I'd get hooked."

"Did Matt know about this?" Fred asked.

He was silent at first, but nodded after a few seconds, "Yeah, he found it in my dresser when we were hanging out at my house."

"What did he say?" Daphne asked quietly, hoping he would continue to talk to them.

Jake shrugged, "He called me an idiot and said that stuff would just burn out my body and I was jeopardizing my chance to play college ball. Plus, if I got caught, I'd definitely be off the team. He told me he'd help me get my life back on track so we started hanging out more, spend everyday after school together, trying to get my mind off it so the withdrawal wouldn't be quite so bad. Matt was just that kind of guy, always willing to put down everything for someone else, especially a friend." He smiled bitterly, wiping at something on his face. "Anyway, It got easier each day and now I'm totally clean. I even took my whole stash to the dump yesterday, right after school. I don't think I could have done that without his help." His voice hitched slightly. "That's why I'm so determined to stay clean because it was what he wanted." Suddenly he spun around with rage in his eyes.

"And I come to find out that that bitch killed him! She friggin' killed him and I didn't even think about it until tonight! All because she was freakin' jealous of me spending time with her precious Matt…all because of me…Matt died."

Jake looked at the ground again, screwing his eyes shut to fight against the tears. Velma nodded to Fred, who walked over and tentatively placed a hand on Jake's shoulder as a means to both comfort him and save his machismo.

"Matt did not die because of you, Jake. There's no way you could have known Ella would do something like that."

Jake slapped the hand away, angry tears pouring down his face.

"Well I sure as hell didn't freaking help, did I?! If I hadn't been so weak, Matt wouldn't have been trying to help me and he'd still be alive! It's my fault that my best friend died!! He's dead and he's not coming back!!"

"You're right."

There was a gasp as everyone turned to look at Shaggy, who was staring at Jake in sympathy.

"Matt is gone, man. You're right about that. But d'ya really think he'd like to see you here bein' mad at yourself over it? You think he'd like to see you blamin' yourself for something you didn't even, like, have control over? You're insultin' your friend by blaming yourself, dude. If any of my friends died…" He subconsciously started scratching Scooby behind the ear. "I'd be pretty mad too, but I wouldn't sit around here feelin' sorry for myself especially if I knew it wasn't my fault. You gotta move on and remember your friend for the good things he's done, not for his death, which, like, you had nothin' to do with."

Everyone stared in disbelief at the words coming out of Shaggy's mouth. C'mon, this was Shaggy. _Our_ Shaggy. Shaggy-who-can't-go-five-minutes-without-mentioning food-Shaggy. It was strange to hear him being so thoughtful. Had the situation not been so serious they all would have laughed at the words coming out of Shaggy's mouth. Jake just stood there in shock, not really sure how to react. Fred nodded in agreement with his friend, though, and turned to look at Jake.

"See, you have to look forwards and start living the way Matt would've wanted, remember?"

Something in Jake's demeanor changed suddenly, and he nodded with a small smile.

"Yeah…Yeah I do."

* * * * * * *

The case was solved. Another "bad guy" sent to jail. All in a day's work for Mystery Inc. But they were still left with a rather unsatisfactory feeling inside. Sure, they solved the case but it still wouldn't change the fact that Matt was dead. The only thing they got out of it was sending a scared eighteen year old girl to prison for who knows how long. It had left them with kind of an empty feeling inside. Velma pondered these things she and Daphne walked down the front of the school towards the parking lot so they could hit the road again. Daphne noticed she looked a little down so she tried talking to her, hoping to cheer her up.

"Well, we solved another mystery," she said cheerfully. "I'm surprised you're not more excited, usually through the roof after we solve a case. You were so excited earlier to break the news. What happened?"

"I don't know," Velma sighed. "I just can't stop thinking about it. My brain says she's guilty, but…there's still this nagging feeling that we missed something. I can't believe he just "fell back," but Ella doesn't really strike me as the murdering type. Maybe a little crazy-" Daphne gave her a look. "Ok, _a lot crazy_," she broke a smile. "But still, it seemed like she really did care about him. Maybe they were fighting and she pushed him or something. I'm just not sure anymore," she sighed, leaning against the brick wall of the school.

"I know you how feel," Daphne said, sitting on the bench beside her. "I was actually starting to like Ella. Sure, she could be controllingsometimes, but she was friendly too and I think she really _did_ love Matt. I can't picture her doing something like this. Especially after seeing her today. I'm so used to 'And I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for you meddling kids,' not screams and tears."

Velma didn't respond, lost in her own thoughts. Something about this didn't make sense. If Ella loved Matt so much, why would she kill him? The girl might have gotten angry, but there's no way she could have pushed someone his size over a metal railing so easily. There was a variable that she couldn't see, and Velma's intuitive personality was constantly reminding her of it.

"Ok, girls. "I got everything sorted out with Mr. Anderson and the others. Ready to hit the road?" he asked, tossing the keys is the air.

"Ready!" Daphne chirped.

"Me too. But can we like stop for dinner first. I'm starved." Shaggy whined.

"Re roo," Scooby whimpered and rubbed his belly.

"We just ate three hours ago," Daphne pointed out.

"I know," Shaggy cried, clenching his stomach.

"All right, all right. I think we could all use something to eat. Coming Velma?" Fred asked as the rest of the gang walked towards the van.

"Yeah. I'll be there in a minute," Velma said softly. Taking one last look at the theatre, she turned the other way.

_Wait, what was that?!?!_

Turning back, she saw something dashing by, out of the corner of her eye. When she turned, she saw a figure darting into one of the side doors of the theatre. It was too far away to get a real close look at it. She knew it couldn't Mr. Feldman, he saw his car pull away just moments before. But…who else would be here this late?! There was only one way to find out. She made a mad dash, heading straight towards the theatre.

A/N: Phew! Long chapter!!! And there's more :O Aw snap! Well hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to review ;)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I still don't own Scooby Doo, but I wish I did (sigh).

Chapter 9:

Velma entered the theatre as quietly as she could trying not to scare whoever was in there with her. She looked around and listened for the tiniest sound that might be able to tell her where the mystery person had gone. It was quiet at first, then she heard a clanging from backstage. She walked briskly down the aisle, trying not to make a sound. But when she got there, the person had disappeared.

"Shoot, lost him," she muttered to herself.

Just then she heard footsteps coming from above- the catwalk! She climbed up the ladder as fast as she could, now even more determined to find the escapee. Why were they trying to run away? Could they have something to do with Matt's death?

When she reached the top- nothing. _That's strange_ she thought, _I know I heard something up here. Hmmm…there has to be someplace for him to hide. _The catwalk consisted of two aisles: one to the left, one to the right both connected in the middle. The aisle to the left, closest to the stage, was used for lighting; probably what Matt had been working on right before his fatality. The walkway to the right was an empty space between it, used to drop balloons or confetti on the audience after a play or something. She walked around slowly, looking for any niches where they could be hiding. As she made her way to the far end of the left walkway and she kneeled down to see if they could be hiding underneath- still nothing.

"Way to go Velma, you're finally losing it," she muttered as she pushed herself up. Suddenly, the walkway shifted beneath her, and tipped back. She lost her balance and fell.

"Ahhhh!" She felt a strange force, pushing her up just enough to grab the edge of the catwalk in the knick of time. She couldn't get a good enough grip to pull herself up. She reached for the railing with her free hand, stretching out as far as she could, but still couldn't reach. She felt the same fear and helplessness Matt must have felt the moment before he died. Her hand was getting sweaty and began shaking from grabbing onto the thin, metal edge, she could already feel it slipping. She closed her eyes and prepared for impact. Her hand slipped, she winced, stiffening. Suddenly she felt herself being pulled back up. She looked up to see Shaggy pulling her to safety, sweet relief rushing over her.

They stood with the rest of the gang safely away from the loose panel. "Relma!" Scooby was so thrilled to see she was all right, he jumped in her arms, licking her face.

"It's ok, Scooby, I'm fine," she giggled, setting him down. "Thanks Shaggy, one more second and I'd be spattered."

"No problem. You ok? Like, what happened?"

"I'm fine. In fact, I think I just discovered something that will blow the lid off this case. Look!" as pointed to a hole the size of a nickel in one of the beams. "There's a bolt missing. And judging by the wear on the hole, it looks like its been out for a while. And after being walked on a number of times, it finally shifted out of place."

"Okay…" Freddie commented, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well, schools have to have a maintenance check once a month to make sure everything is working properly and they aren't violating any safety regulations. I wonder how long it's been since Mr. Anderson did one of those. Especially since he's been saving so much money for his swim team's new pool." Velma mused, giving a thoughtful smile.

"I say we find out! C'mon, gang!" Fred declared.

Just before leaving, Velma shot a glance to the area where she fell, wondering what had kept her up long enough for her to grab the rim. She observed one of the air vents above. _Hmmm…probably just weird breeze. These theatres can be awfully drafty._

* * * * * * *

"Mr. Anderson, we'd like to talk to you," Fred requested as the entered the principal's office. The aged man was grabbing his coat and briefcase, preparing to leave.

"Yes, excellent work. You kids did a stupendous job, but it's getting late and I have dinner plans, so if you like a reward let's meet in the morning and I'm sure we can work something out."

"That's _not_ what we're talking about," Velma replied. "We're talking about _you_ neglecting your maintenance checks of the school."

"Why…I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really. Then I'm sure you won't mind if we check your records to confirm that," Velma smirked, reaching into the filing cabinet.

"Wait! That's classified information! You can't just-"

"'Last school building/school property maintenance check: December 12th', five months ago," Velma read, closing the folder. "Care to explain why you haven't done a safety check in _five months_?"

"That is none of your business young lady," he said, snatching the file from her.

"You're right, it isn't. Maybe I should just call the police and they can take it from here."

Mr. Anderson hung his head in shame, "I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have been putting the students' safety at risk. I figures it wouldn't matter that much. I desperately wanted to get that pool for those swimmers. They're great kids who've been wanting one for a long time, but the school never took any initiative. I remember being on a swim team when I was their age. You see, I grew up in a town even smaller than this. Our team had to drive 20 miles to the next town to practice before _and _after school. But did our school care?! No! they only care about the football team or the big school play, even though we worked just as hard- _harder _than they did, but did we ever get any credit- NO! I didn't want these kids to feel like that, to feel less important than the other teams. They work hard, they deserve just as much recognition as everyone else," he ranted.

"Well. That little 'budget cut' did more damage than just bruising some kids egos. It killed Matt Palmer."

Mr. Anderson looked like he was about to collapse "What?! No! Ella pushed him off."

"That's what we thought too, at first. But it didn't make sense that someone with her strength could push a fully grown man over so easily. The difference in their strength alone was making me wonder. Then when I inspected the area where Matt fell and discovered there was a bolt missing from the panel holding the catwalk steady. Without it, that area of the catwalk is very unsteady. We believe _that_ was the cause of Matt's death. I'm sorry but we're going to call the police on this one." Velma finished.

Mr. Anderson simply nodded, so overwhelmed by the revelation, he almost missed his chair as he sat down. Staring off, he tried to grasp everything that had just been explained to him. Anderson wasn't a bad person, he hadn't meant for something like this to happen. Was he really responsible for the death of one of his own students?

A/N: Wow, talk about a plot twist. So what's going to happen to Mr. A? And who was the mystery person Velma was chasing? All will be revealed in the final chapter of Murder in Coolsville.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Here it is! My Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa gift to you. Enjoy ^_^ I own a cute Scooby Doo ornament…but I do not own Scooby Doo.

Chapter 10:

By the time they'd gotten everything settled with the police, yet again, it was far too late to be driving anywhere so Mystery Inc. opted on staying one more night in the apartment before taking off again.

Before leaving town the next morning, they wanted to stop by the school for old time's sake. They were pleasantly surprise to find the door unlocked, figuring in all the chaos Mr. Anderson had forgotten to lock up, so they decided to visit their favorite parts of the school.

Fred and Daphne walked onto the football field where Fred had duked it out with the other teams and Daphne cheered on the sidelines. Velma visited the science lab where she did everything from testing the radioactivity of granite to working on her science fair projects like the robotic book organizer for the library. Naturally, Shaggy and Scooby went to the cafeteria, claiming they were only stopping in to have a "light snack" which translated into half the food in the kitchen.

Unfortunately their trip down memory lane didn't last very long since they were certain the police would be coming back any minute to lock up. As Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, and Scooby headed towards the parking lot, Velma insisted on taking one last stroll around the front of the school.

As she reminisced, her thoughts began to drift to the events that had occurred over the last few days. The accident, the investigation, catching the person they thought was the killer, discovering that person wasn't the killer, and then realizing it really _was_ just an accident; it was a lot to take in.

Mr. Anderson would most likely be charged with negligence or possibly student endangerment which meant he wouldn't have that long of a sentence, a five years tops. The gang had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, Mr. Anderson really was a good person at heart and didn't mean to hurt anyone. He had no idea what a tremendous impact his thoughtless decision would have. But on the other hand, his recklessness had cost one young man's life and damaged many others. He realized he made a serious mistake, now he needed to accept the consequences. And although his punishment would probably not satisfy Velma, but at least Matt will be getting some justice.

Velma turned to the theatre across the street once more, taking one last look. "I hope this is what you wanted," she said under her breath before turning back to the lot.

She felt a cold spot on her shoulder. She turned absent mindedly. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her as she faced a translucent outline of a tall boy with curly hair staring at her intently. Too stunned to speak, she could only stare. The boy smiled one of the warmest smiles she had ever seen, and mouthed the words 'Thank you.' She simply nodded and continued to stare.

*HONK* *HONK* The blaring sound of a familiar horn cut through the air, startling her so much she almost collapsed.

"C'mon Velma!" Shaggy called from the window. "Daphne's treating us all to breakfast at Manny's!"

"Uh…oh…okay." Velma said numbly, turning back to where the figure had been standing, but it had disappeared. After a few seconds, she nodded, feeling the sense of shock giving way to acceptance. A short breeze ruffled her hair as Velma obediently began walking back to the back to the van.

_Was that…he…really there? Could he have been the one leading me the whole time?_ she wondered. Of course! It made perfect sense. He _was_ to the one who led her up there so prove Ella was innocent.

…_I guess the really did love each other _Velma thought to herself as she reached the Mystery Machine where Shaggy and Scooby were looking quite anxious to go eat.

"Hey Velma. Like, what took ya so long?" Shaggy asked as she joined the rest of the gang in the trusty, old Mystery Machine.

"Oh…just…saying good-bye," she smiled to herself as they pulled away from the spot of one of there greatest cases yet.

A/N: Yay! It's finally done!!! I hope you like it. Special thanks to my BFF Miss Tev for introducing me to Fan Fiction and giving me lots of feedback in my chapters. And thank you to everyone who have taken the time to read and review. It means a lot to me. Please leave any final thoughts you have or what I can improve on in the future. Thank you so much for all your enthusiasm, patience and support.


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